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Annette Bening in 'It's a Wonderful Life' at Geffen Playhouse

October 20, 2011 | 3:42
pm

Annette Bening is returning to the Geffen Playhouse — but instead of starring in a regular-season production, the four-time Oscar nominee will appear in a one-day-only production of Joe Landry's "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" scheduled for Dec. 10.

The performance — two, actually, a matinee and evening show — will serve as a fundraiser for the Geffen and The Actors Fund. (Tickets are priced from $69 to $93.) Bening will play Mary, with the rest of the cast to be announced.

Since this is a radio show, audiences can expect minimal staging, though the Geffen said that a foley artist will be on hand to produce sound effects. Bart DeLorenzo will direct.

"It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" is inspired by the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" and is intended to mimic a live radio play performance from the 1940s.

Bening's last appearance at the Geffen was in Joanna Murray-Smith's "The Female of the Species" in 2010. She also starred in Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" at the Geffen in 1999.